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k THE  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 
METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 

Rindge  Literature  Department 


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2 Korean  Ctrcutt  tttDcr 


noon  of  that 
fellow-laborers 


UESDAY,  May  14,  1901,  was 
a memorable  day  in  the 
career  of  Kim  Chang  Sik, 
one  time  pagan,  but  now 
a humble  follower  of  the 
Christ,  for  in  the  after- 
day he  stood  before  his 
in  the  Mead  Memorial 
Sang-dong  Church,  Seoul,  while  Bishop 
David  H.  Moore,  laying  his  hands  upon 
his  head,  ordained  him  a deacon  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  From 
that  day  he  has  been  known  as  the  first 
native  ordained  Methodist  preacher  in 
Korea. 

When  he  came  to  work  as  a pony  driver 
for  the  Rev.  Franklin  Ohlinger.  at  that 
time  a missionary  in  Seoul,  Kim  was  a 
poor  and  ignorant  heathen,  knowing  little 
of  the  religion  which  his  master  preached, 
and  caring  nothing  for  it.  But  the  influ- 
ences of  a Christian  home  made  an  im- 
pression upon  him.  Mrs.  Ohlinger  pa- 
tiently taught  him  the  lessons  of  the  Gos- 
pel, induced  him  to  attend  the  meetings  of 
the  church,  and  in  many  ways  sought  to 
win  him  for  Jesus  Christ.  These  effo 


t-i 


were  not  in  vain,  for,  Mompted  at  first  by 
curiosity,  the  Korean  attended  to  the  read- 
ing of  the  Bible;  his  interest  having  been 
aroused,  he  made  a study  of  its  teachings; 
and  finally,  under  the  preaching  of  Mr. 
Ohlinger,  he  accepted  Jesus  as  his  Saviour 
and  Master. 

Then  he  studied  more  zealously,  adding 
to  his  Bible  study  a study  of  the  Chinese 
language,  considered  necessary  to  the 
equipment  of  a Korean  scholar.  He  has 
become  proficient  in  his  studies,  and  they 
now  call  him  “Kim  the  teacher.”  Of  course 
he  immediately  began  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel to  his  countrymen,  becoming  an  ex- 
horter  in  1892,  and  after  a few  years  of 
faithful  service  receiving  a local  preacher’s 
license.  His  experience  has  been  that  of  a 
pioneer  preacher.  Three  times  has  he 
been  thrust  out  upon  the  frontier  to  blaze 
a way  for  other  workers  to  follow.  The 
first  time  was  when  the  late  William  J. 
Hall,  M.D.,  was  sent  to  establish  the  mis- 
sion in  Pyeng-Yang,  the  most  important 
city  in  the  northern  part  of  the  empire. 
Dr.  Hall  asked  for  Kim  Chang  Sik  to  help 
him  on  the  circuit  he  was  establishing 
al»out  Pyeng-Yang  as  a center,  and  Mr. 
Kim  went.  Here  he  suffered  persecutions, 
like  his  prototype  the  apostle,  winning 
from  Dr.  Hall  the  appellation,  “Our  Ko- 
rean Paul.”  It  was  in  1894  that  a mob  in 
Pyeng-Yang  set  upon  the  Christian  doctor 
and  his  helpers.  With  several  others  Mr. 
Kim  was  arrested,  put  in  prison,  beaten, 
^■d  placed  in  the  stocks.  All  were  given 


the  opportunity  ti^-recant,  and  the  others 
did  so.  But  his  religion  was  of  a different 
type.  When  the  persecutors  urged  him  to 
curse  God  and  forsake  the  service  of  the 
foreigner,  promising  him  release,  he  said: 
“God  loves  me  and  has  forgiven  me  my 
sins;  how  can  I curse  Him?  The  foreigner 
is  kind  and  pays  my  honest  wages;  why 
should  I forsake  him?”  This  noble  con- 
fession was  made  after  they  had  removed 
him  to  the  death  cell,  from  which  he  had 
no  reason  to  hope  he  would  come  out  alive. 
When  the  order  for  his  release  came  from 
Seoul  he  was  so  injured  from  long  im- 
prisonment and  beatings  that  he  reached 
his  home  with  great  difficulty.  Before 
long,  however,  he  was  reported  as  holding 
daily  prayer  meetings  for  the  Japanese 
soldiers  quartered  in  Pyeng-Yang,  at  the 
time  of  the  Chinese-Japanese  war,  thus 
ministering  to  the  spiritual  needs  of  for- 
eigners in  his  own  city. 

The  same  zeal  and  perseverance  char- 
acterized the  later  efforts  of  Mr.  Kim  upon 
the  Samwha  Circuit,  an  outpost  of  the 
Pyeng-Yang  work,  and  a station  to  which 
he  was  appointed  because  of  his  success  in 
the  former  place.  Here  he  was  laboring 
with  increasing  success  when  he  was  or- 
dained as  a local  deacon  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  Mission  in  1901.  Less  than 
a year  after  his  ordination  this  pioneer 
native  preacher  was  again  sent  out  upon 
the  frontier  to  plant  the  banner  of  the 
cross  upon  the  Sin-Kai  Circuit.  He  i 
mediately  began  touring  his  circuit 


u 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/kimchangsikkoreaOOunse 


a little  band  of  colpo^ters,  with  the  re- 
sult that  souls  were  soon  turning  unto  the 
Lord. 

Mr.  Kim  is  almost  fifty  years  of  age. 
His  circuit,  which  includes  many  of  the 
outposts  of  our  work  in  Korea,  extends 
over  a distance  of  one  hundred  and  seventy 
miles,  and  as  he  must  be  off  for  another 
tour  among  the  numerous  villages  of  this 
circuit,  we  will  bid  him  godspeed. 


